CAL RIPKEN BASEBALL: Metro New York wins regional tournament

Monday

Jul 29, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Lee Goodwin

WAYNESBORO — Next up for Metro New York is Opp, Ala.The 12-year-old Cal Ripken tournament baseball team breezed through the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament with a 5-0 record, culminating in an 11-0 victory against host Waynesboro in the championship game Sunday evening.There was little doubt in the outcome of a game that followed Waynesboro’s grueling 9-inning 3-2 triumph against Northern New Jersey champion Pershing Field (Jersey City). The Knights, which play in the New York City borough of the Bronx, led 3-0 after the first inning and never looked back.“They’re solid,” Waynesboro manager Troy Witte said of his team’s title game opponent. “I’m disappointed. They’re good, but I didn’t want to lose by the 10-run rule. The kids played their guts out. They played the best team in the tournament.”Witte couldn’t help but wonder how things would have turned out if his team’s semifinal game against Jersey City hadn’t gone nine innings. Add the fact that Hunter Clever, who pitched the final three innings of the Jersey City game, was the starting pitcher in the championship game.“I just pitched the poor kid three innings to end it (against Jersey City) and came back and pitched him to start,” Witte said.It might not have mattered who Waynesboro pitched against the boys from the Bronx, however. The Knights coasted through pool play with lopsided wins against West Elmira, Emmitsburg and Waynesboro, winning by a combined score of 40-9, including a 10-2 win against Waynesboro on Saturday.

Getting there

An 11-5 win against Southern New Jersey winner Medford earlier on Sunday set the stage for what appeared to be a New York-New Jersey Metro matchup with Jersey City. But Waynesboro prevented the game between what would have been two undefeated teams, thanks to the power of Cole Reed.Reed, the hero of Waynesboro’s 3-2 comeback win against Emmitsburg on Friday, hit a solo home run way over the net in left field for what proved to be the winning run. Clever, who entered the game in relief of Reed with one out in the seventh inning, struck out three straight batters after surrendering a lead-off single in the ninth to preserve the win.The going was a little more difficult for Clever and Company against Metro New York. The Knights hammered out 13 hits in three innings, while starting pitcher George Romero and the Kingsbridge defense held Waynesboro to four hits.Waynesboro left the bases loaded in the fourth inning to end the game.“That (nine-inning game) took a lot out of them,” said Knights manager Alan Dillon, whose team will now make the trip to Hammond, Ind. in a little over a week for the 10-team World Series. “We thought they were going to beat Jersey City. It helped us out that the game went that long. If they could have kept it to six innings, who knows what could have happened.”Dillon said most of his team has been playing together for three years now, and four of his best players competed in a major tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. recently against some of the best players in the country.Valero helped himself with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and Gabriel Zambrana added a solo shot to lead off a six-run third inning. Valero singled in the final run of the game as well.

A little extra

In a well-played semifinal game between Waynesboro and Jersey City, the home town team took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Reed walked, advanced to second on a single by Owen McCleafr and scored on a bases-loaded, two-out walk to Cole Stouffer.The Northern New Jersey champs tied the game at one when Tino Salgado went yard (literally) with a sky shot toward Clayton Avenue in the bottom of the fourth.Waynesboro regained the lead in the fifth as Clever led off with a triople and scored on a double by Tobiah Walizer.Jersey City responded with another tying run in the home fifth with Brian Torres reaching on a fielder’s choice and scoring on a two-out single by Salgado.Clever entered the game in the seventh and pitched a masterful 2 2/3 innings, striking out eight batters and giving up two singles along the way.Reed’s ninth-inning homer was the difference in the game, though Waynesboro had a big chance to go ahead in the eighth inning after McCleaf singled, Jacob Dorty walked and Nick McDermott hit a two-out singled to load the bases. Relief pitcher Luis Tolentino induced a ground out to end the inning.While Jersey City and Waynesboro saw their tournament seasons come to an end, Kingsbridge is getting ready for another round of games. It’s first game is Aug. 9 at 2 p.m. against Opp, Ala., winners of the Southeast Region. The Knights — who are in the National Division with the Southest, Midwest Plains and Pacific Northwest Regional champions as well as host Hammond, Ind., will then play Hammond the following day.For Waynesboro, which added District 8 and state championships to its list of accomplishments in youth baseball, the focus shifts to fall baseball.“We’ll be getting things going for fall ball at the end of August and play until October,” Witte said. “It’s a lot more learning and will help us get ready for the spring.”

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